ghostbusters posts

We are a little over halfway through the end of 2009 and so far things in the PC game industry have pretty much been what we have expected. We've had some games that were as good as we expected and other that didn't quite meet our high hopes. We've also had a couple of surprises that have kept us on our toes.

Today, We have decided to look back and give our picks for the best PC games released so far this year (in the order of which they have been released). We have also picked a couple of high profile titles that were also released but did not end up to as good as we had hoped.

However the first half of the year is usually not when the big PC game releases show up. We still have a lot to look forward to in the back half of 2009 with games like Modern Warfare 2, BioShock 2, Left 4 Dead 2, Borderlands, Champions Online, Aion, Dragon Age: Origins and (if Blizzard sticks to its announced schedule) StarCraft 2. In other words we likely haven't seen the best games of the year just yet.

Download Dawn of War 2 Single Player Demo
Download Zeno Clash Demo
Download Plants vs Zombies Demo
Download Tales of Monkey Island Demo
Download F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin Demo


Click on the image above to read more of our picks for the top PC games of 2009 (so far)

While we will have to wait until the NPD Group's list to see how Prototype did in retail stores, the latest Steam weekly sales numbers have the Radical Entertainment-Activision open world action game at number one for a second straight week.

Thanks to the 50 percent off sale this past weekend, Empire: Total War is number two on this week's list. Also the PC version of Ghostbusters (sans multiplayer) shows up at the number four spot. The introduction of the last two Elder Scrolls games to Steam last week caused two editions of the RPG series to show up on the list. Finally Killing Floor remains in the top 10 for another week.

Even though PC owners may not be getting any multiplayer options in the just released Ghostbusters game, many feel that the $30 price for the single player action game is worth it. In their latest 48 Hour Madness sale, GoGamer.com has made that low price even lower to $25.90.

The sale, which ends at 3 am ET on Tuesday, has a number of other games on its list including Far Cry 2 for $14.90, Call of Duty 4 for $24.90, Prince of Persia for $14.90 and Tom Clancy's EndWar for $17.90. Our pick would be Painkiller Black Edition which got it's price cut to just $4.90.

Gamers were upset when it was learned a few days ago that the PC version of Ghostbusters would lack the multiplayer features that its Xbox 360 and PS2 counterparts have. We asked the game's publisher Atari for comment on this issue and they sent over a response from Dan Irish, the CEO of the game's multiplayer developer Threewave Software:

Multiplayer for the PC version of Ghostbusters is something that Threewave and Terminal Reality always wanted to do. However, our focus was on making the console version the best that they could be - an experience that allows multiple players to re-live and re-fight many of the themes from the movies. When we looked at the resources necessary to pull off multiplayer on the consoles and the PC, it became a question of what could we do and still be excellent in our execution. We couldn't do all versions with multiplayer simultaneously with the resources that we had available - there was simply too much to do. Something would have to suffer. Therefore, we kept our focus on making the console versions deliver on the promise of being an integral player on the Ghostbusters team.

We have yet to receive a response to our other question on if Atari plans to add multiplayer support for the PC version of Ghostbusters via a patch.

This week, PC gamers can look forward to getting slimed and getting shot at with a new retail release and the next version of a popular free multiplayer shooter.

Ghostbusters: After switching publishers and getting delayed for several months, developer Terminal Reality and publisher Atari release this long awaited movie-based action game made with the assistance of several of the original film's cast and writers. Time to cross the streams as you get to play a new Ghostbuster alongside the classic team to fight new and returning beasts. Unfortunately the PC version lacks the multiplayer modes that most of the other ports of the game will have.

Atari is about to ship their long awaited Ghostbusters game to stores this coming week but a few folks have gotten their copies a bit early and such as the Ghostbusters fan site Ecto-Web. They have discovered something that hasn't been mentioned once in any of the previews of the Terminal Reality-developed title. While the Xbox 360, PS3 and ports will have some sort of multiplayer options, the PC version of Ghostbusters has no such multiplayer features . . . at all, offline or online.

Quite frankly this is pretty appalling on the developer's part. We can't remember the last time a multiplatform game nixed PC multiplayer features while the console ports got to have that privilege. Oddly enough the PC version does require an Internet connection for authentication before you can play the totally single player experience.

[Via Blue's News]

Atari made some news a few weeks before E3 2009 when they announced that they were pulling out of exhibiting from the E3 exhibit hall and meeting room they had previously booked. In the end, however, Atari still had an indirect presence at the show. Their Ghostbusters game, due out later this month, was being shown in playable form at Alienware's booth. We got to play the beta build of the PC version on the newly revealed M17x gaming laptop and it looked pretty darn good. We can't wait to check out the final version in a few days.

Atari's other big game for 2009 is Champions Online and on the last day of the show its director at Cryptic Studios Bill Roper showed off a demo of the title to a number of journalists, Big Download included, in the Palms Restaurant just a block away from the LA Convention Center. We also got our own beta key to the game and will give our hands-on impressions of the highly anticipated super hero MMO in the near future.

This time last year Atari (and its parent company Infogrames) was in deep financial trouble. After years of losing money and releasing a lot of games that just didn't sell, Atari got a lifeline by being bought out completely by Infogrames. They also got major new executives a year ago with Phil Harrison (formerly of Sony) joining the company as President and David Gardner (formerly of EA) as its CEO.

Now there are signs that Atari might be in trouble again. We've already reported that Atari has sold off the rights to publish Ghostbusters in Europe to Sony in Europe. They have also sold off their European sales and marketing team to Namco Bandai and decided to pull out of this year's E3 after originally booking exhibits hall and meeting rooms.

CNBC.com reports on Atari's financial situation and while Atari itself declined to comment for the article it speculates that sales of the Ghostbusters game in the US (when it releases this June) could keep revenues going while Atari finds its footing. Analyst Michael Pachter of Wedbush Morgan Securities is quoted as saying, "I think they're quite close [to break even]. That said, I doubt they're going to be immensely profitable this year."

While Atari has pulled out of exhibiting at E3 next month they are still planning to publish the long awaited Ghostbusters game later in June for the PC in North America (Europeans have to wait until later). Today GameTrailers debuts a new movie that shows of the multiplayer action in the game.

While Terminal Reality handled the single player portion of the Ghostbusters game it was multiplayer game specialists Threewave Software that created the multiplayer modes. The trailer shows off the fact that the game will allow you to play as any of the Ghostbusters team in co-op style multiplayer against AI ghost enemies so your dreams of playing as Dr. Peter Venkman can now be fulfilled. Look for the final version to be released on June 16.

With just three weeks to go before the launch of the revamped E3 event, one of the game industry's bigger publishers is pulling out of exhibiting at the trade show. According to a statement from an Atari PR rep that was sent to our sister site Joystiq, "Atari has made the proactive decision to attend but not exhibit at this year's E3 event. Although we feel E3 benefits the entire games business, we are very focused around other selling and marketing initiatives for our upcoming Ghostbusters, Champions Online and other to be announced titles."

Atari is still listed as exhibiting at E3 2009 at the event's web site, both in a meeting room and in one of the larger exhibit halls at the Los Angeles Convention Center so this decision seems like something made at the last minute. When contacted by Big Download, Atari's PR rep would not comment on this sudden decision to pull out of exhibiting at the show, referring only to their official statement. They did say they did not have plans for any press events in the LA area during E3.